<\/p>\n
26 September 2025<\/p>\n
The escalating Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm medical professionals there, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone in the north of the war-torn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis brings the total functioning hospitals in Gaza to only 14\u2026the situation at the remaining eight hospitals and one field hospital in the city is critical,\u201d said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic.<\/p>\n
The development comes as Israeli forces continue to push into Gaza City with the declared aim of dislodging Hamas fighters believed to be based there. At the same time, repeated Israel Defense Forces evacuation orders have been issued to communities in Gaza City, uprooting hundreds of thousands of people and affecting hundreds of health facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if hospitals are not asked to evacuate, there is a lack of access, there is violence just nearby and that can put them out of service,\u201d\u00a0Mr. Jasarevic told journalists in Geneva.<\/p>\n
Gaza City forms the backbone of the Gaza Strip\u2019s health system since almost half of all hospitals and field hospitals in the enclave are based there.<\/p>\n
\u201cHospitals in the south are overwhelmed and can\u2019t absorb more,\u201d\u00a0WHO warned in a statement on Friday which noted that the enclave\u2019s remaining hospitals include eight in Gaza city, three in Deir al Balah and three in Khan Younis.\u00a0None is functioning at full capacity, the UN health agency stressed.<\/p>\n
The situation at Gaza City\u2019s eight remaining hospitals and one field hospital is \u201ccritical\u201d, with medical teams \u201coverwhelmed by the influx of casualties resulting from strikes\u201d, in addition to having to treat non-trauma patients.<\/p>\n
The four north Gaza hospitals put out of service since 1 September are Al Rantisi Children’s Hospital, the Ophthalmic Hospital, the St. John Eye Hospital and Hamad Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics.<\/p>\n
WHO describes Hamad Hospital as one of the three main specialized rehabilitation facilities in the Gaza Strip. It had been serving 250 outpatients with rehabilitation services, in addition to providing medical care for people injured while seeking aid in north Gaza at its trauma stabilization point, with about 200 patients served daily.<\/p>\n
Al Rantisi Hospital sustained severe damage from a direct strike on 16 September while 80 patients were inside the facility. It is the only specialized paediatric hospital left in the Gaza Strip. No fatalities were reported in the attack but there was significant damage to rooftop water tanks, communication systems and medical equipment.<\/p>\n
Half of the patients fled for safety, while some 40 others remain inside, including four children in the intensive care unit and eight newborns, according to WHO.<\/p>\n
Most of its medical equipment was transferred to Al Helou, As Sahaba and Patient Friendly hospitals, all in Gaza City.<\/p>\n
In addition to the latest hospital closures, the situation is \u201ccritical\u201d at Gaza City\u2019s remaining eight hospitals and one field hospital. They are all \u201coverwhelmed by the influx of casualties resulting from strikes\u201d, in addition to providing medical care for non-trauma patients.<\/p>\n
According to WHO, all but one of the dozen reported attacks on healthcare between 7 and 17 September have been in Gaza City, with Khan Younis the 12th.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore violence only means more injured people. It means more casualties, more deaths and it means less access,\u201d\u00a0Mr. Jasarevic said. \u201cPeople in Gaza are suffering from multiple displacements; there are shortages of medical supplies, there are issues of access both for humanitarians, for health workers, also for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
The WHO spokesperson reiterated the health agency\u2019s call for the urgent evacuation of the thousands of seriously ill patients in need of specialized care.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver 15,000 people\u2026need to be evacuated for medical reasons and evacuations are really going very, very slowly,\u201d he said. \u201cAgain, we can only appeal for a ceasefire, appeal for unhindered access so we can try to support what’s left of the health system in Gaza with the medical supplies, with the emergency medical teams and with everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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